YOLUME 16. NUMBER 48_the buttercup month_april 20. 1988
Tribes' electronics enterprise nears break-even point
A year has passed since Jim Paro took over at the helm of S & K Electronics and he says he's pretty pleased with all that's taken place in that time: They're ever-so-close to a break-even point, and the staff and employees have linked together with a new "business attitude" that will be the strength of their success, says Paro.
When he first accepted the challenge
of managing S & K in February of last year, he predicted it would be two years before the company would reach a break-even point "Assuming we make a profit on the contracts we may get now, we should see a profit by the last half of this year," he said.
The goal they're keeping in mind is "diversifying" what they produce and who they produce for. "We'd like to get together with some prime contractors
and wean ourselves from government business," said Paro. 'There are a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through [when doing business with the government] and they're slow at paying the bill, which hurts in terms of cash flow. We want to establish relationships with major companies like Boeing and General Dynamics. We've favorably impressed some companies," Paro as-(Contlnues on the next page)
Seniors: Paperwork deadline extended
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A week or two ago, the Reservation's senior citizens were sent some papers to fill out and return by April 14. That deadline has since been extended to this Friday, April 22, according to Elderly Indian Program director Arlene Templer.
Templer explains that the completed paperwork — a needs-assessment survey and a client-intake form — is important because it concerns EIP's funding. In light of the recent history of dwindling dollars, she said, they'd like to be prepared for the next funding cycle, using the seniors' answers to the needs-assessment survey. "We need to know what the clients
think are the most important services, so we've asked them to prioritize a list of about 15 things," she said. "We need the client-intake forms for the statistics they'll provide which we need for funding purposes too. It's really important that people fill the forms out and get them back to us as soon as they can so we can begin to plan."
If anyone needs help with the forms, "please feel free to call me at 745-2117," she said. Completed forms can be turned in to her at the commodity store in St. Ignatius, or at any senior citizens center, or to Pat Pierre or any CHR.